Lubrication



J. MM.

E. H. ROCHER LUBRICATION Filed July 3, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J e5 3 2 ffy ,I 7@ I 79 K pf w1 fr' ATTORNEYS JMW 1m@ R943. E M Kom-1ER-LUHRICATI0N Filed July 3, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1,4 [11:15.

JW I'y BY @Mmw ATTORNEYS Patente Jan. 19, 1943 LUBRICATION Edward H.Kocher, Boonton, N. J., assignor to Auto Research Corporation, acorporation of Delaware 8 Claims.

The present invention relates to a centralized lubrication installationand it particularly re-v lates to a mechanically driven reciprocatingpump which may be utilized in connection with said centralizedinstallation.

Although not specifically limited thereto, the present invention will bespecifically described in connection with its application to highrestricted flow metering systems, which vvill distribute relativelyminute, yet accurately proportioned quantities of lubricant to aplurality of spaced bearings on a mechanism, such as a printing press,textile loom, knitting machine, accounting machine, filling machine,sewing machine and various other types of machines at intervals duringoperation or continuously during running of the machine.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide an improvedcompact, simple, inexpensive, automatically actuated, mechanicallydriven central pressure pump unit which may be readily associated with areservoir, and at the same time Will supply lubricant to a distributingsystem of the character above described with assurance that either anintermittent or a continuous pressure will be maintained and withassurance that adjustment of feed may be readily secured in accordancewith the requirements of the particular machine and the operatingcharacteristics or the number of bearings to be lubricated.

Another object is to provide an improved pump unit particularly adaptedfor the feeding of lubricating oils under pressures varying from afraction of a pound to several hundred pounds or more, which may bereadily adjusted to feed any desired numbers of bearings and which maybe operated to give a continuous high pressure feed to a plurality ofhigh restriction outlets.

Other and further objects and advantages will also appear from the moredetailed description given below, it being understood however, that thismore detailed description is given by Way of illustration andexplanation only and not by Way of limitation, since various changestherein may be made by those skilled in the art Without departing fromthe scope and sphere of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects it has been found most satisfactoryaccording to one embodiment of the present invention to mount theactuating, adjusting and pump units all upon a cover element which maybe positioned or attached to a separate reservoir or more preferablyactually mounted so that the pump Will be immersed in a. lubricant Wellin the machine structure itself.

Desirably a flat cover member is provided with a cup Within which thereis a reciprocating operating mechanism having an outside shaftconnection and which also may receive an overow device in parallel withthe distributing system, which will be readily adjusted from the coverso as to control the feed from the pump to the system.

The pump itself may be carried by means of the U-shaped bracket whichwill position the pump substantially adjacent the bottom of thereservoir. The U-shaped bracket at one side may carry a connecting rodelement and at its lower side carry the pump body which, in thepreferred form of the invention, consists of an elongated unpacked metalplunger.

The piston desirably may also have a relief mechanism which willcollapse When a predetermined pressure is arrived Within thedistributing system and thus either limit or decrease the pressure oramount of lubricant feed into the system, even though the pump besubstantially continuously actuated during the operation of themechanism which is being lubricated.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the fact thatmeans are provided, for example taking the form of a manually actuatedbutton to enable increase in pressure of lubricant upon the distributingsystem or a substantially continuous or excess feed at desired intervalsand for desired periods of time.

In the vdravvings which show one of the various possible embodimentswhich may be constructed according to the present invention, but towhich the invention should not be restricted, since this embodiment ismerely illustrative,

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view of one form of the pumpingmechanism upon the line l--I of Fig. 3,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top view upon the line 2-2 of Fig 1, with thecover of the Well removed,

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view upon the line 3--3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed sectional view upon the line 4-4 of Fig.3 showing the adjusting mechanism and also the continuous or excess feedbutton,

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view upon an enlarged scale of onetype of a flow metering outlet which may be employed and fed from thepump as shown.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, the reservoir A, which may consist of a wellin the machine or mechanism being lubricated, is provided with a coverB, an inlet or filler device C, a driving or pump actuating mechanism D,a cover well E, a pump structure F, a sight glass arrangement G and afeed adjustment H and an excess flow control device I.

The pump is designed to feed a distributing system of the type shown anddescribed in Patents Nos. 1,632,771, 1,732,212, 1,746,139; and inapplications Ser. No. 745,187, filed September 24, 1934, now Patent No.2,229,095; Ser. No. 635,526J filed September 30, 1932, now Patent; No.2145,245, issued January 31, 1939; and Ser. No.

30,462.. led July 9, 1935, now Patent No. 2,229,096; A

which systems may be provided with outlet ttings of the high restrictionflow metering type, as indicated at J.

Referring specifically to the reservoir illustratively shownI in Figs. 1to 3, the reservoir consists of metal or glass, having a base I and thesides which receive the bosses I2 to have suitable attachment bolts.There is a vertically elongated recess I3 provided at one side of thereservoir (see Fig. 3), which recess has the bottom portion Ill and thetop portion I5. The portion hl receives the socket I6 having the gasketcontacted by the lower end of the glass sight tube I8.

Through the central portion of the gasket is the nipple sleeve |9, thelower flared end of which 28 projects into the reduced socket portion2|.

The .bore 22 communicates with the bottom of the reservoir A. The upperportion is provided with a bore 23, the upper part of which is tappedand which receives the threaded plug 24 having the nipple 25 whichretains in place the gasket 26.

The plug 24 has a llister slot 21, by which it may be screwed down topress the gasket 26 against the top of the glass tube |8.'

This will seal in position the cylindrical sight glass I8 whichindicates the level of lubricant in the reservoir A.

The upper portion of the reservoir is also provided with the bosses '28which receive the bolts 28 in the corners 36 of the cover element B. Thecover element B is provided with a base 3|, a portion of which has theupstanding cup E having the side walls 32. The chamber 33 inside of thecup 32 is covered by the supplementary cover 34 provided with the gasket35 and bolted in position by the screws 36.

The base 3| of the cover B also carries the U- shaped bracket 37 whichhas an arm 38 bolted at 39 to the cover B. The lower arm lil of thebracket carries the hexagonal pump body 4| which has a reduced extension112 fitted into an opening 43 in the bracket with the shoulder 84abutting the bottom of the bracket (see Fig. 1).

The nut i5 (see Fig. 1) which screws upon the upper threaded portion 46of the pump body ,21| draws the shoulder 48 up against the arm 60. Thepump body is provided with a central bore il which receives the plunger48, said plunger being relatively elongated and being unpacked. Thelower portion of the cylinder or bore 41 is enlarged, as indicated at 49and is further enlarged and tapped at 50 to receive the inlet ball checkunit 5| which carries the ball check 52. Said ball check receives a coilspring 53 pressing the ball check against the valve seat 54 and also aretainer 55 for said spring 53,

The lowerportion of the pump body carries the cup 56 which has the metalscreens 51 and the felt disk 58 held in position by the snap ring 59.The ring 59 is held in position in turn by the inturned crimped portions6l) at the bottom of the cup 56.

In the side of the body 4| is a tapped socket 5| receiving the outletball check assembly 62 having the spring seated ball check 63. The unit62 is connected by the coupling nut 64 (for example of the constructionshown in my copending applications Serial No. 727,719, filed May 26,1934, now Patent No. 2,182,811, issued December 12, 1939; and Serial No.727,720, filed May 26, 1934, now Patent No. 2,134,719, issued Novemberl, 1933) to the U-shaped tube or pipe 65, which is connected by similarcoupling 66 to the bore 6l in the nipple extension 68 of the bracket 3l.

The upper portion 68 of the bracket 31 is provided with a chamber 'i0from which projects the nipple having a central bore 12. The bore 72 isconnected by the coupling 13 (for example of the same construction asthe couplings 64 and 66) to the tube 14. The tube 'I6 projects upwardlyinto the bore 'F5 and is connected thereto by the coupling nut T6 havingthe coupling sleeve Ti, which may be of the same construction as thecouplings 64, 66 and 13.

This bore 'I5 is formed in the enlargement 'I8 of the cover B andextends through to the top of the cover, as indicated at '19, where asuitable coupling connection may be made to a distributing outletsystem, as for example of the type shown and described in applicationsSerial No. 30,462, filed July 9, 1935, now Patent No. 2,229,096, SerialNo. 123,384, led February 1, 1937, now Patent No. 2,229,655; and SerialNo. 635,526, filed September 30, 1932, now Patent No. 2,145,245, issuedJanuary 31, 1939. As shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1, T fitting I 'l5feeds a distributing pipe |16 from which are supplied a multiplicity ofbearings, each of which is fed through a branch I'l by a metering ttingJ at the bearing.

In the enlargement 18 on the cover B is also the bore receiving theshaft 8|. The shaft 8| may be connected by the extension 82 to anydesired reciprocating driving element, such as for example shown inapplication Serial No. 30,462, filed July 9, 1935, or even as shown inSerial No. 635,526, filed September 30, 1932, now Patent No. 2,145,245,issued January 31, 1939.

For example, the shaft may be connected by a crank or lever to areciprocating bed of a lathe or other machine tool, to the head of apower press, or it may be actuated from a cam or eccentric driven by ashaft on a printing press, loom, spinning machine, accounting machine,lamp making machine, can making or filling machine, or a bottlingmachine.

Referring specifically to the shaft 8| it will be noted that the portion'I8 is provided with a recess 83 which receives the bearing washer 84held in position on the shaft 82 by the tapered pin 85. The cap 86aholds said bearing washer in said recess 83.

The other end of the shaft 8| projects into the chamber 33 and has areduced end portion which fits into an opening in the collar member 88(see Fig. 3) said collar 86 being held in position by the tapered pin8T. The collar 86 has a clevis extension 88 which has rounded top andbottom portions 89 which respectively ride against the washer 98 and thewasher 9|.

The washer 90 is held over in position by the peaned over portion 92,while the washer 9| is pressed against the lower side of the clevis 88by,

the spring 93. The lower part of the spring 93 bears against theshoulder 94 at the top of the reciprocating shaft or connecting rod 95.

The connecting rod or shaft 95 bears in the opening 96 in the upperportion B9 of the yoke 31 and it is encircled by a spring 95a. betweenthe portions and 69 of the frame.

The upper portion of the spring 95a reacts against the lower face of thearm 69 of the frame 31, while the lower end of the spring reacts againstthe nut 91 (see Figs. 1 and 3). The spring 95a tends to press the piston48 downwardly in the bore 41.

The nut 91 is screwed onto the lower threaded portion 93 of thereciprocatory shaft 95 (see Fig. l).

It will be noted that when the piston 48 is in its lower-most position,as indicated in Fig. 1, the lower end of the connecting rod 95 will abutthe upper end of the cylinder body 4| limiting the downward motion ofthe piston under the action of the spring 95a.

The upper end of the piston 48 is provided with a semi-spherical ormushroom enlargement 99a. which is pressed against the ring 99 by thespring |09.

The spring |90 is much weaker than the spring 95a and will collapse iftoo high a pressure is created in the pump chamber 49 or in thedistributing system, which is fed through the tubing and 14 and outthrough the tapped outlet 19.

In such case, depending upon the stroke of the shaft 95 and of thereciprocatory driving element 82, the stroke of the piston 48 will bedecreased or possibly the spring |90 may take up the entire stroke ofthe shaft 95 without movement of the piston.

The piston 48 is generally designed to be of such a size and for such astroke and to be reciprocated at such a frequency as to maintain asubstantially continuous pressure upon the distributing system as ismaintained for example by the pump shown in application Serial No.468,799, iiled July 18, 1930, now Patent No. 2,145,854, issued February7, 1939; and Serial No. 745,187, iiled September 24, 1934.

IThis will cause a substantially continuous seepage through the highrestriction flow metering outlet ttings, a typical of one is indicatedat J in Fig. 5.

As shown in Fig. 5, the fitting is provided with a tubing end |9| whichis connected in liquidtight fashion to the inlet nipple |92 of the body|93 by the coupling nut |94, the double tapered coupling sleeve |95 andthe hard steel bushing sleeve |95. The lter or strainer |91 ispositioned in the inlet socket |98 of the body |03.

Centrally positioned in the body |93 is a bore |99 substantiallycompletely filled by a pin which provides a crevice of the order of afew thousandths of an inch. This pin may be centered in the mannerdescribed in copending application Ser. No. 226,414, filed August 24,1938.

The outlet nipple which may have a pipe thread to be connected to abearing, has a socket i 2 receiving the check valve I |3 pressed against`the seat |14 by the bowed spring ||5. The bowed spring is held inposition by the retainer |6 having the outlet openings ||1.

instead of the nipple |92 being connected to the tubing |91 and theoutlet end being connected to a bearing, it is possible for the inletend |92 to be threaded into a junction with the outlet end beingconnected to a tail pipe which in turn leads to a bearing or drops upona lubricant receiver.

Although the type of fitting shown in Fig. 5 is preferred, it is alsopossible to use many other types of fittings, such as those shown inPatents 1,732,212, 1,746,139 and 1,975,929.

A most important feature of the present invention resides in the factthat it is possible to increase the pressure upon the distributingsystem containing the fittings J and to cause a more rapid emissionthrough the fittings J to the bearings to which they are connected forpurposes of test or under special circumstances by means of theconstructions H and I more particularly shown in Fig. 4 and shown insmaller scale at the top of Figs. 1 and 3.

The device H shown in large scale in Fig. 4 also enables more readypermanent adjustment to permit increased flow or decreased flow to thesystem to control the feed to the bearings or to take care of increasedor decreased numbers of bearings or even to take care of differentgrades of lubricant without changing the stroke or rate of reciprocationof the pump F.

Referring specifically to Fig. 4, there is shown a control adjustablehigh restriction iiow metering outlet fitting H permitting regulation ofthe feed through the fittings J at the outlet ends of the distributingsystem.

The manually actuated device I, which also may be automaticallyactuated, serves to increase the flow of lubricant through the system orto increase the pressure of lubricant in the system and thus causesenhanced emission through the high restriction flow metering fittings J.

The adjustable flow metering restriction device H to function mostsatisfactory should have an order of restriction of about the samemagnitude as the restricting effect of the various outlets J, allarranged in parallel, which restricting effect is from 10 to 100 timesthat of the tubing system 'and of the bearings to be lubricated. Whenthe restricting effect is adjusted in this manner, it is found possibleto regulate the admission and pressure on the fittings J with maximumaccuracy and exact control.

Referring specifically to Fig. 4, the body |49 is press-fitted into thebore |4| forming the upper part of the chamber 19 in the upper leg 59 ofthe frame 31,

The lower part of the body has a socket |42 which receives the ballcheck |43 pressed against the seat |44 by the spring |45. The body isalso provided with an accurately drilled conical bore |46 which receivesthe conical restriction or needle valve element |41 having the fiat |48which may be so adjusted that when the conical member is closed, asindicated at |119, the flat |48 will permit an emission varying from 1/8to 3A that permitted by the high restriction metering outlet ttings J.

The upper portion cf the body |49 is provided with the tapped sleeve |59which is slit at I5| for resiliency and which receives the threadedshank |52 above the neck |53 of the adjustable restriction member |41.The member |41 may be readily adjusted by applying a screw driver to thefillister slot |54.

The side of the upper extension |50 of the body |49 is provided with theopenings |55 through which lubricant which has flowed past the conicalelement |45 passes out into the chamber |56 in the shell |51. Thecylindrical tube or shell |51 has an enlarged portion |58 which ispress-fitted into the bore |59 at the bottom of the chamber 33. Thecover 34 of the chamber 33 is provided with an opening |60 whichreceives the sleeve |6I, said sleeve forming a bearing |62 for the shaft|63.

The shaft |63 is pressed upwardly by the spring 64 which bears at oneend against the enlargement |16 on the shaft |63 and at the other sidebears upon the shoulder |66 on the sleeve |6I.

The lower end of the shaft |63 carries the annulus |61 which backs thevalve disk |68 of a pliable material, such as cork, ber, oil silk orsimilar materials. The upper part of the shaft |63 has an extension |69upon which is pressfitted the nipple |1|a projecting downwardly from theinterior of the cup |1I.

The skirt |12 extends downwardly around the upper end of the sleeve |6I.The top of the Cup is concaved, as indicated at |13, to receive the endof the finger.

In operation the piston 18 will be reciprocated by the shaft orconnection 95 bearing in the bracket 31 by the clevis 88 and thereciprocating shaft 62. The shaft 82 will be driven from the mechanismbeing lubricated s that its reciprocations will be proportional to thelubricant requirements of the bearings.

The lubricant discharged by the pump will feed past the outlet check 63,to the tubing 61 through the chamber 16, to the tubing 14 and throughthe distributing system connected to the outlet 19, to the outlets J.

A considerable volume of lubricant varying from 1/8 to 1%, of thedischarge through the outlets J will be relieved through the fiat |48 ofthe adjustable outlet H and this lubricant will well up in the tube |51and will overflow into the chamber 33. The lubricant will fill thechamber 33 until it reaches the shelf |16 (see Fig. 2) whence it willoverflow through the return passage !15 back to the reservoir A.

The lubricant filling the cup 33 up to the level of the shelf |13 willassure lubrication of the bearing 6|) (see Fig. l) and the bearing 96(see 3). The excess lubricant which will flow through the bearing 80into the pocket 83 will be returned through the bores |16 and |11 (seeFig. l).

The pressure of the pump at all times will be sufiicient to unseat theball check |43, which ball check |133 will cooperate with the conicalrestriction |41 to limit the flow into the well 33.

Desirably the conical restriction |41 is set in an intermediate positionso that there will be an annular lubricant relief space around itsentire periphery at |69. Adjustment may be made when the cover 34 isremoved by applying a screw driver to the fillister slot |54.

It is therefore possible to decrease the iiow when a great emission isdesired through the outlets J or when an increased number of outlets Jare placed upon the system or to increase the fiow when a lessenedemission is desired through the outlets J or when a smaller number ofoutlets J are placed upon the system.

When it is desired to obtain a more rapid emission through the outlets Jfor a predetermined period of time, to test the system or to assure aninitial shot of lubricant to the system at commencement of operation,the element I may be actuated by pressing the valve face |68 downagainst the top of the tube |51 which will prevent emission through theadjustable fitting H that constitutes a by-pass device for lubricatingthe pump mechanism. When said by-pass device is thus closed lubricant isforced into the distributing system with enhanced feed through theoutlet fittings J to the bearings.

Although many different changes in dimensions may be made, it has beenfound most satisfactory according to one embodiment of the invention toprovide pistons 48 varying in diameter from 35e to T57.; of an inch,with a stroke varying from 1/4 to of an inch.

It will be understood that many changes could be made in the particularfeatures of manual excess feed button for reciprocating pumps as shown,and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention couldbe made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended thatall matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a centralized lubricating installation for amechanism, having a plurality of spaced and distributed bearingsrequiring small, yet accurately proportioned quantities of lubricantduring operation of the mechanism, said installation including a centralreservoir, a central pump receiving lubricant from said reservoir, abranched distributing tubing system substantially completely filled withlubricant, having an inlet receiving lubricant from the pump and aplurality of outlets to the bearings, said outlets including highrestriction fiow proportioning fittings having an obstructing effecttremendously greater than the tubing system and the bearings, so thatsaid fittings will predominantly control the proport-ionment oflubricant discharged by the pump among the bearings, said pump having areciprocating plunger, driving means to reciprocate said plunger, andactuating means to cause said driving means mechanically driven by themechanism to continuously reciprocate said plunger and thus maintain asubstantially continuous discharge from the pump into the tubing system,and a substantially continuous lubricant pressure in said tubing system,and a substantially ccntinuous slow seepage feed past said fittings intosaid hearings during operation of the mechanism, and means at saidcentral pump momentarily to increase the feed past said fittings intosaid bearings, said means includes an adjustable valve and areciprocating element to decrease the flow past said valve.

2. In combination with a centralized lubrieating installation for amechanism, having a plurality of spaced and distributed bearingsrequiring small, yet accurately proportioned quantities of lubricantduring operation of the mechanism, said installation including a centralreservoir, a central pump receiving lubricant from said reservoir, abranched distributing tubing system substantially completely filled withlubricant, having an inlet receiving lubricant from the pump and aplurality of outlets to the bearings, said outlets including highrestriction fioiv proportioning fittings having an obstructing effecttremendously greater than the tubing system and the bearings, so thatsaid fittings will predominantly control the proportionment of lubricantdischarged by the pump among the bearings, said pump having areciprocating plunger, driving means to reciprocate said plunger, andactuating means to cause said driving means mechanically driven by themechanism to continuously reciprocate said plunger and thus maintain asubstantially continuous discharge from the pump into the tubing system,and a substantially continuous lubricant pressure in said tubing system,and a substantially continuous slow seepage feed past said fittings intosaid bearings during operation of the mechanism, and means at saidcentral pump momentarily to increase the feed past said fittings intosaid bearings, said last mentioned means includes an adjustable needlevalve and a reciproeating manually operated button for optionallyclosing the outlet from said needle valve.

3. In combination with a centralized lubricating installation for amechanism, having a plurality of spaced and distributed bearingsrequiring small, yet accurately proportioned quantities of lubricantduring operation of the mechanism, said installation including a centralreservoir, a central pump receiving lubricant from said reservoir, abranched distributing tubing system substantially completely filled withlubricant, having an inlet receiving lubricant from the pump and aplurality of outlets to the bearings, said outlets including highrestriction flow proportioning fittings having an obstructing effecttremendously greater than the tubing system and the bearings, so thatsaid ttings will predominantly control the proportionment of lubricantdischarged by the pump among the bearings, said pump having areciprocating plunger, driving means to reciprocate said plunger, andactuating means to cause said driving means mechanically driven by themechanism to continuously reciprocate said plunger and thus maintain asubstantially continuous discharge from the pump into the tubing system,and a substantially continuous lubricant pressure in said tubing system,and a substantially continuous slow seepage feed past said fittings intosaid bearings during operation of the mechanism, and means at saidcentral pump momentarily to increase the feed past said fittings intosaid bearings, said last mentioned means including a by-pass from saidpump back into said reservoir, an adjustable obstruction upon saidby-pass to regulate the relative restricting effect of said by-pass andsaid fittings and a manually operated device to close oif said by-pass.

4. In combination with a centralized lubricating installation for amechanism, having a plurality of spaced and distributed bearingsrequiring small, yet accurately proportioned quantities of lubricantduring operation of the mechanism, said installation including a centralreservoir, a central pump receiving lubricant from said reservoir, abranched distributing tubing system substantially completely filled withlubricant, having an inlet receiving lubricant from the pump and aplurality of outlets to the bearings, said outlets including highrestriction fiovv proportioning fittings having an obstructing effecttremendously greater than the tubing system and the bearings, so thatsaid fittings Will predominantly control the proportionment of lubricantdischarged by the pump among the bearings, said pump having areciprocating plunger, driving means to reciprocate said plunger, andactuating means to cause said driving means mechanically driven` by themechanism to continuously reciprocate said plunger and thus maintain asubstantially continuous discharge from the pump into the tubing system,and a substantially continuous lubricant pressure in said tubing system,and a substantially continuous slow seepage feed past said fittings intosaid bearings during operation of the mechanism, and means at saidcentral pump momentarily to increase the feed past said fittings intosaid bearings, said last mentioned means including an adjustable by-passrestriction mounted at said reservoir and between the pump and the inletto said tubing system and a manually operated valve to cut off saidby-pass.

5. In a lubricating installation for a main mechanism having a pluralityof bearings to be lubricated with relatively accurately proportionedquantities of lubricant during the operation of the mechanism, pumpmechanism, a distributing conduit system with an inlet to receivelubricantxunder pressure from said pump mechanism for distributionthrough outlets to the bearings of said main mechanism, said systembeing provided with a plurality of flow proportioning devicessubstantially preventing gravity flow and only permitting slow seepageflow under substantial applied pressure from said source and having anobstructing effect tremendously greater than the conduits and thebearings so as to predominantly control the proportioning of lubricantamong said bearings and a by-pass device provided with a needle valvecontrolling an outlet to said pump mechanism for lubricating the latter,said needle valve being provided with a flat surface and manuallyoperated valve means to close oif the outlet of said needle valve.

6. In a lubricating installation of the type having distributingconduits with flow control means for a mechanism having a plurality ofspaced and distributed bearings to be lubricated; the combinationtherewith of a central pump unit feeding said system, said pump unitincluding a reservoir, an actuating mechanism at the top of saidreservoir, including a horizontal shaft at the top of the reservoir anda vertical shaft driven from said horizontal shaft extending down intosaid reservoir, a plunger and a cylinder unit in the bottom of saidreservoir, said actuating mechanism being carried by said cover andmeans to lubricate said mechanism from said plunger-cylinder unit whilefeeding said piping,

said latter means including an outlet connection' from saidplunger-cylinder unit to said conduits and a needle valve restrictionupon said connection to permit a proportional part of the clischarge ofthe pump to flow to said actuating mechanism, said needle valve beingnatted, and manually operated means to close off the outlet of saidneedle valve.

7. In a lubricating installation for a main mechanism having a pluralityof bearings to be lubricated with relatively accurately proportionedquantities of lubricant during the operation of the mechanism, a pumpmechanism, a distributing conduit system with an inlet to receivelubricant under pressure from said pump mechanism for distributionthrough outlets to the bearings of said main mechanism, said systembeing provided with a plurality of iiovv proportioning devicessubstantially preventing gravity flow and only permitting slow seepagenow under substantial applied pressure from said source and having anobstructing effect tremendously greater than the conduits and thebearings so as to predominantly control the proportioning of lubricantamong said bearings, a by-pass device provided with a needle valvecontrolling an outlet to said pump mechanism, said needle valve beingprovided with a flat surface and manually operated Valve means to closeoli the outlet of said needle valve, including an upstanding sleeveenclosing the outlet of said needle valve and a sealing member having apush button to be pressed against the upper end of said sleeve and toclose the upper end of said sleeve.

8. In a centralized lubricating installation 5 nism, said by-passincluding an adjustable needle valve provided with a threaded adjustmentand with a close-off valve, said close-off valve being provided with aspring to bias it to open position and with a press button to enable itsclosure.

EDWARD H. KOCHER.

